The Florida Democratic Party has unveiled its list of speakers for its annual gathering of party faithful at the Leadership Blue gala which will be held in Hollywood this weekend.
Large amounts of Democrats will gather Saturday for the one-day extravaganza. The main event will be keynote speaker former Vice President Joe Biden, who will address the crowd at the Leadership Blue dinner.
Several other state Democrats like U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., will also headline the event, which will include three panels all aiming to help Democrats mobilize themselves for 2018 and beyond. The FDP will hold an "issue-based" panel as well as a "resistance" panel featuring activists from the Black Lives Matter movement.
Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was previously slated to give the opening remarks, but the FDP ultimately did not add her to the schedule.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Gwen Graham, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum and businessman Chris King will also participate in a panel Saturday afternoon.
Sens. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, will join Biden and Nelson to speak at the Leadership Blue gala dinner Saturday evening.
The full schedule is below:
Our Voice, Our Issues Panel, 11:00-12:30 pm
Moderator: Representative Cynthia Stafford
Panelists: State Senator Oscar Braynon
State Represenative Carlos Guillermo Smith
Anna Eskamani, Planned Parenthood
Tom Conboy, South Florida Engineering and Consulting LLC
Mary Green, President of the Brevard Democratic Disability Caucus
Ghazala Salam, American Muslim Democratic Caucus
The Resistance Panel, 1:00-2:30 pm
Moderator: DeRay McKesson, Black Lives Matter; Pod Save the People
Panelists: Dominik Whitehead, AFSCME
Ida Eskamani, Organize Florida
Charo Valero, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Maria Rodriguez, Florida Immigrant Coalition
Carrie Feit, Women's March of Florida
Karla Hernandez Mats, United Teachers of Dade
Gubernatorial Panel, hosted by the Progressive Caucus of Florida, 3:00-4:30 pm
Moderator: Keith Fitzgerald, former State Representative
Panelists: Mayor Andrew Gillum
Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham
Chris King
Leadership Blue Gala, 7:00-9:00 pm
Speakers: Former Vice President Joe Biden
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson
DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake
State Senator Oscar Braynon
State Senator Jeff Clemens
State Representative Janet Cruz
State Representative Kionne McGhee
State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith
Mayor Wayne Messam
Commissioner David Arreola
Ana Eskamani
Ida Eskamani
FDP Chair Stephen Bittel
FDP President Sally Boynton Brown
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